threads not being "marked as read" across different PCs

tomtoc · Jul 28, 2008

if i read a bunch of threads on one PC, then go to another, the threads i just read aren't "marked as read".
if i wait a couple hours between switching PCs, its fine. but if i go directly from one to the other, it doesn't recognize they've been read.

-this happens on firefox, ie, xp, vista, iphone, etc
-i'm logged in on both/all machines
-it's not a browser/visited links problem, its something with vbulletin

it's obviously not a huge issue - i assume vbulletin just works that way, but if there's some quick fix you guys can do about it, that'd be great.

am i the only one that's noticed this?

john112deere · Jul 28, 2008

I rarely switch computers, but if I reboot or restart my browser, I have the same issue.

Doesn't really bother me, because it catches up with itself before I forget what I have and haven't read.

tomtoc · Jul 28, 2008

john112deere said:
I rarely switch computers, but if I reboot or restart my browser, I have the same issue.

yea same here - if the browser crashes or something, same thing happens.

saying that out loud makes me think it's something between vbulletin and the browser that make them show "read".

can someone that knows more about vbulletin explain?

Skandocious · Jul 28, 2008

I'm pretty sure it has to do with the fact that your cookie stays active on the site for a while after you sign off. Exactly how long-- I have no idea. But your name will still show on the Who's Online page for a while before the vBulletin kills it for having a certain period of inactivity.

I imagine that if you waited for that cookie session to die and THEN signed on, they would be marked as read

tomtoc · Jul 28, 2008

Skandocious said:
I'm pretty sure it has to do with the fact that your cookie stays active on the site for a while after you sign off.

...sounds right. wonder if there's a way to lessen that time.

does this happen to you too?

Skandocious · Jul 28, 2008

Yeah it happens to me too.

And I'm not sure if it would be possible to decrease the time... The idea here is that if you sit and read a page of a long thread for, say, 20 minutes-- you're still signed onto the site but vBulletin has no clue what you're doing since you haven't clicked on anything. In order for the Who's Online page to reflect everybody who is actually online it needs to have the delay or every 5 or 10 minutes each member would be signing off and signing back in.

This would especially wreak havoc for members who don't use the "remember me" check box when they sign in-- since they'd have to continually type in their username and password.

tomtoc · Jul 28, 2008

Skandocious said:
Yeah it happens to me too.

And I'm not sure if it would be possible to decrease the time... The idea here is that if you sit and read a page of a long thread for, say, 20 minutes-- you're still signed onto the site but vBulletin has no clue what you're doing since you haven't clicked on anything. In order for the Who's Online page to reflect everybody who is actually online it needs to have the delay or every 5 or 10 minutes each member would be signing off and signing back in.

This would especially wreak havoc for members who don't use the "remember me" check box when they sign in-- since they'd have to continually type in their username and password.

5, 10 or 20 minutes seems fine, but it seems like its an hour.

...20 minutes is a long time to sit on one page

mrfixit · Jul 28, 2008

Session cookies are designed to link the user to the machine, and have a depreciating time limit that allows for timeouts, power outages, etc, before it expires. That's further enabled by the "Remember Me" function.
When you go to a new machine, it sees you as a new visitor, even tho you are logged in via that machine as well... it reads the last time this user used this machine to determine what are "NEW" posts.

mrfixit · Jul 28, 2008

tomtoc said:
5, 10 or 20 minutes seems fine, but it seems like its an hour.

...20 minutes is a long time to sit on one page

You shoulda seen him when he tried to backpedal on that airplane story this morning... :guns:

Blue Goose · Jul 28, 2008

tomtoc said:
...20 minutes is a long time to sit on one page

that R'nt chit fer usin folk that r s-l-o-w at typ'n chit on this here board...

Skandocious · Jul 28, 2008

mrfixit said:
it reads the last time this user used this machine to determine what are "NEW" posts.

That's just plain incorrect. When I access new posts from my Mac at work and come home to access new posts from my Dell--- it has already marked the Mac-read posts as READ on my Dell computer.

The New Posts coincides with the account log-in, not with the computer log-in.

mrfixit · Jul 28, 2008

I didn't say it DOESN'T mark them. The session cookie has to expire, and sometimes that takes a while, especially if you stay powered up or hibernate.
Just what does "depreciating time limit" mean to you? :guns:

Blue Goose · Jul 28, 2008

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